Below is an interview with “Burn Notice” star Seth Peterson, who plays Nate Westen (brother to Jeffrey Donovan's spy guy Michael) on the USA Network series, which is set to run its mid-season finale.

No question was off-limits for Peterson, who talks about his character, his time on the Burn Notice set and what’s on his iPod. He also discusses how he got into acting, the show’s split season and what the future holds for Nate.

Here’s an edited version of the interview, which contains questions from fans of the show:

Q: Out of all the television or movie roles you’ve done so far, what has been your favorite role and why?

S: I would have to say Nate. There have been other characters that I’ve had more crazy stuff that I’ve done, but as far as (the question) … this is the best show and it’s a show I really enjoy watching it. I mean you can have a character on a show that you think is a really great character, but if it’s not really that great of a show what does that mean?

Q: I read some where that you’re a big James Bond fan. Does that tie into it at all?

S: Yeah, definitely. It’s just neat being on a show that really gets into all that spy stuff (laughing).

Q: Is there a one actor / actress or director you’d really like to work with?

S: You know who I’d like to work with? Casey Affleck. He’s a genius. I think that he’s hilarious and really interesting and I love his work. I picked him to win the Academy Award like 10 years ago and I still think he’s going to do it

Q: What about an actress or director?

S: I’ll pick one from my list of the hottest women in the world – Angelina Jolie.

Q: Are there any funny stories from your time on the set of Burn Notice that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

S: Off the top I don’t really have any funny stories, to be honest with you. What we do with our down time, you know, it depends on the scene that I’m working on for me. If it’s a scene that I feel really comfortable with and it’s light and fluffy then I just listen to music or I just chat and wait. And if it’s something that’s a little bit more difficult and challenging then I rehearse in my dressing room and I listen to upsetting music (laughs). Do a couple of pushups or something.

(Author’s note: Seth shared a light-hearted moment in an earlier phone call in which he talked about the fight scene between Michael & Nate in Comrades, revealing: “I didn’t know if you went to punch someone -- and obviously you’re not really punching them -- but if you go to punch someone and miss it really

hurts!” -- so there ya go, something a little bit humorous from the set of Burn Notice.)

Q: How much rehearsal goes into some of the scenes on the show?

S: From scene-to-scene it varies. Some of those scenes are like 1/16th of a page and some of them are like a page to two pages and some of them are fight scenes. I don’t do a lot of those but the fight scenes take a lot longer. Any scenes that have special effects can take hours because you have a lot of safety concerns and explosions and you only get to shoot that once or twice.

I was working on a show once where I was a psycho killer and I set this house on fire and burned these people to death. I had to do a lot of preparation before we worked and then when we did the scene something went wrong and we had to redo the scene – but the house had already caught on fire.

They had to repaint the house, which took 16 hours, so that was probably the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent on one scene. I mean once the house is burned you have to repaint it. You really have no choice (continued laughter).

Q: You mentioned listening to your iPod on set – what’s on it?

S: That’s a good question. You know, I’ve been obsessed lately with my iPod. I’ve been on this major reconstruction movement to repair my lost music collection so I spend a lot of time on iTunes ripping my CDs back into my computer because I lost everything.

Now as far as what’s new that I’ve been listening to, I’ll just tell you the new stuff I’ve been getting. Of course Beck, because he’s a childhood friend, I always get his new stuff. He’s got an album that just came out. There are also a couple of new bands I’ve been crazy about. One is called Dr. Dog and the other is called Love as Laugher. Those guys are outrageous. A lot of the stuff I listen to is more Indie-Rock.

Q: Somebody wants to know if you have a favorite John Hughes movie? Also, did you watch MTV growing up?

S: I never watched MTV (laughs). I never really got into videos, though I did one for Rod Stewart. Now as far as the John Hughes movies, wow…John Hughes made a lot of good movies. I guess the best one is The Breakfast Club.

Q: I read that you’re a big Lakers fan. Are you a big sports fan in general?

S: Yeah. I actually had a bet with Jeffrey Donovan on the (NBA Finals). Now, I had won the money on a bet so it was basically free money, but it still hurt to hand it over when the Celtics won. I wasn’t too thrilled about it. When I got on set the first time after that series was over, I had the money in my hand before he ever walked into the trailer and he said “Pay me!” so I just handed it over. Then he opened his mouth and I said, “I don’t wanna talk about it!”

Q: So who’s your favorite athlete? Is it Kobe (Bryant)?

S: Right now it is.

Q: So are you a baseball or football fan too or just basketball?

S: No, no. Just basketball. And I like (Lakers center) Andrew Bynum too. I think if his knee can hold up he’s going to be phenomenal. He’s going to be great.

Q: We also had a couple of questions from people wanting to know if you have any advice on becoming an actor. I know you did some theater work, so is it better to go that route and work your way up?

S: I don’t know any other way to do it. For me it was just regional theater and some small local theaters in Los Angeles. Obviously you’ve gotta be in a town that has productions. You’ve either gotta be in LA or New York. I’m sure there’s a few other pockets in the country where they’re making movies or maybe in other countries if they obviously they have the money to do it, but I got started because agents and other people in the business go to see plays. It works for them just like music managers and other people like that have to go see live shows to hear the music and then slowly if you’re serious about it and working hard…and it’s also a lot of fun…but someone will see you and approach you and say, “Hey, I want you to make a million dollars.”

Q: Do you prefer theater to doing TV or movies?

S: It’s more gratifying, as far as how you feel when you’re doing it. The only thing is, with TV or movies if you’ve done something that you love you always have it there. You can show it to people and when they say “What did you do?” there’s that. You have it forever.

Q: In regard to your current role on Burn Notice, is it difficult to travel back and forth to Miami and be away from a role for that long and suddenly jump right back into it?

S: It is, especially after the long hiatus it’s pretty tough. For me, I’m really close to this character so it doesn’t really go away. I’m almost myself, it’s sad to say. I played a similar character on Providence for five seasons so I pretty much have this guy cold, I’m pretty sure. He’s not going anywhere. (laughs)

Q: How many more episodes of Burn Notice will you be in this season?

S: I’m not going to be in any more episodes this season. And it’s weird, because I’ve never seen a show that did that before, and the stuff they’re going to show you (in January) is stuff that’s already finished. Basically their production ends in two weeks so I’m not going to be doing any more episodes.

I find that a bit unfortunate, because I’d really like to know what happens to Nate.

S: (Laughs) Well, they’ve got that burn notice stuff to resolve. They talk about me once or twice, I think, but they’ve got that burn notice business they’ve gotta take care of.

I blogged about this not long ago, because USA Network seems to be one of the only networks that does this. They’ll show you seven episodes and then all the sudden you can’t see the rest of them for months…

S: I don’t know anything about the split seasons. I’ve never seen them before…never witnessed it. This will be my first time watching a show that cuts the season in half. But in my own personal world as far as Nate I definitely have a great relationship with the guys down there and the stories work out the way they work out. It’s the way the cookie crumbles. I’ll be back in Season 3.

Current Comments

Thanks Steph! That is a nice Q&A, he sounds like a pretty nice and grounded person. Too bad he won't be on again come January!

Posted By: Rosey | Sep 18, 2008 9:20:38 AM

Great interview. I cannot wait for the show tonight. I did like Nate and wish he was around more this season but there is always Seasons 3 and 4! At least we do not have to wait until nest Summer to see Burn Notice again. I liked your interview.